The Surgery

East Lane

Chieveley

Newbury

Berks

RG20 8UY

Telephone:

Facsimile: 01635 247261

Branch Surgery at High Street, Compton, RG20 6NJ

Website: www.downlandpractice.org

Newbury PCT runs out of hours care through

Telephone number: 01189 787811

is a group of six partners with surgery buildings in

Chieveley and Compton

BSc.,M.B.,B.S,M.R.C.P.,D.R.C.O.G.,F.R.C.G.P. (Reg: Lond. 1981)

M.B.,B.S.,M.R.C.G.P.,D.R.C.O.G.,D.C.H. (Reg: Lond. 1984)

O.B.E., F.R.C.G.P. (reg: Lond. 1986)

B.Sc.,M.B.,B.S.,D.R.C.O.G.,M.R.C.G.P.,D.F.F.P,Dip.Pall.Med.Commend (Reg: Lond. 1983)

B.A.,B.M.,B.Ch.,D.C.H.,D.R.C.O.G.,M.R.C.G.P. (Reg: Oxf. 1989)

M.B.,B.S.,D.R.C.O.G.,M.F.F.P., M.R.C.G.P. (Reg: Newc. 1977)

Drs. Hunter and Davies work part-time

NEW PATIENTS

We like to meet all our new patients. When you first join us, please make an appointment with our healthcare assistant for a health check.

Further details of primary medical services in the area can be obtained from:

NHS Berkshire West

57 – 59 Bath Road

Reading

Berkshire

RG30 2BA

Telephone: 0118 950 3094

Or

Thames Valley Primary Care Agency

7 – 9 Cremyll Road

Reading

Berkshire

RG1 8NQ

Telephone: 0118 918 3333

Or

NHS Website

The Downland Practice

January 2009

 

Complaints

All of us at the Downland Practice aim to provide the best possible service at all times. Should you have any problems or complaints about the service, we hope that these could be resolved by informal discussion with the person concerned. However, if you feel unable to deal with the matter in this way, the Practice offers a more formal complaints procedure. Further information and a leaflet explaining the procedure is available on request from the Practice Manager or from the front desk.

We are keen that those who use our services are able to air their views, or new ideas. We have a Patient Representation Group with representatives from Parish Councils within the Practice area, please contact the Parish Clerks for details of the representatives. We publish a regular Newsletter and would welcome contributions from our patients. If interested, please contact any member of staff.

We participate in training of medical students from Oxford. The students observe our clinical team in action, but do not see patients unless under supervision from on of the GPs.

This Practice has the use of the Downland Volunteer Group Handybus in the mornings for patients who have no transport of their own. If you need to use this service, please ask for details when you make your appointment. (A seat on the bus must be booked in advance – the driver cannot collect anyone who has not made an appointment.) A nominal fare is charged for adults to allow the continuation of this service.

 

SURGERY TIMES

 

 

The Surgery is open from 8.00am to 6.30pm Monday to Friday.

Routine appointments are available from 8.00am until 6.20pm

Emergency appointments are available late morning and late afternoon

Compton Surgery is open from 8.30am to 12 noon each weekday morning.

Routine appointments are available from 8.30am to 12.00pm

Emergency appointments are available from 11.00am

The surgeries are closed at weekends and on Bank Holidays.

Urgent out of hours care is provided by WestCall: Tel: 01189 787811

We are happy to accept anyone living in the Practice area

 

 

HOW TO REGISTER WITH THE PRACTICE

Please come in and see our receptionists and complete the necessary forms. Don’t worry if you have lost your medical card, as we no longer require them.

Please pick a quiet time (afternoons) if possible, and avoid Monday mornings and lunchtimes.

We assign new patients to doctors based on where you live. We feel continuity is very important and suggest you try and see the same doctor for all your problems. You are free, however, to see any doctor you wish. Please note that availability of doctors is limited by their schedule and workload.

All consultations are by booked appointment. It can be increasingly difficult to know what you should do when faced with a medical illness or problem. We try to make it simple for you by having a flexible appointment system involving all members of the team. By phoning our trained receptionists and telling them in confidence what you need and your problem they will do their best to make sure you see or speak to the most appropriate person at the most appropriate time. This might include:

Patients are registered with the Practice rather than an individual doctor, but wherever possible we try to accommodate patients’ requests to see the doctor of their choice. For continuity of care, it is advisable to see the same doctor for an ongoing medical problem. We would ask that patients attend for their appointments on time, and that if they are unable to attend they let us know in good time so that the appointment can be offered to another patient. Patients have a right to access their medical records and should ask the receptionists for the necessary form to apply for this.

All the records we hold about you are confidential and are not released to anyone without your express permission. Exceptions to this are anonymised information for audit purposes and verification with the Health Authority, and other health professionals directly involved in your care. Our staff training includes confidentiality protocols and we take this issue very seriously. The Practice has a policy that any teenager obtaining care from their GP is offered the same duty of care and confidentiality as an adult. The Practice abides by the Fraser guidelines in the care of teenagers. Receptionists will only give information to a third party about teenagers after reference to their GP.

The Freedom of Information Act 2000 obliges the Practice to produce a guide to the classes of information the Practice intends to make available routinely. If you wish to see a copy, please ask at Reception.

The Practice will not tolerate physical or verbal aggression. Patients whose behaviour is unacceptable will be removed from the list and required to access health care through the PCT

Our Practice nurses specialise in preventative medicine and run their own surgeries. They work alongside GPs to monitor patients with long-term conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, coronary heart disease and asthma. They offer health checks, medical checks on newly registered patients, cervical smear tests, immunisation for travel abroad, advice on family planning, diet, exercise and giving up smoking. They also run minor illness clinics.

We have two Health Visitors attached to the Practice. Their service is predominantly accessed by families with young children, but they have been trained to address the health needs of people of all ages. They are front line workers in preventative care – health promotion, and illness prevention, offering help, advice and support on anything affecting health. Baby clinics are held at Chieveley Surgery every week – for details contact our Receptionists. Health Visitors can be contacted directly on 01635 578576.

The District Nursing teams are based at both Chieveley and Compton surgeries. The nurses work closely with all members of the primary health care team. The service aims to provide holistic nursing care for patients who are usually housebound. The nurses’ role includes the assessment of patients’ nursing needs. Where relevant, patients are referred on to the appropriate agencies (e.g. Social Services). The District Nurses can be contacted directly on 01635 248406 or 01635 578729.

We have a Community Midwife attached to the Practice. She runs a weekly clinic at Chieveley Surgery, where she monitors the progress of expectant mothers. She also works closely with the Health Visitors and Physiotherapists on providing information to expectant mothers and fathers at ante-natal classes, the midwife will provide up to date details of all classes. The Midwife can be contacted at West Berkshire Community Hospital – telephone number 01635 273300

We have a domiciliary physiotherapist attached to the surgery. She visits patients who are housebound either as a result of a recent operation or because of general mobility problems. Access to her services are through your GP.

The Practice offers essential, all additional and a number of enhanced services.

Medical care for people who are, or believe themselves to be sick. This includes a number of specialist clinics for diabetes, heart disease and asthma.

The Primary Care Trust (PCT) from time to time will ask Practices or other health care providers to offer more specialised services. The Practice offers the following services:

Drug rehabilitation – the Practice works with West of Berkshire Substance Misuse Service and offers a programme of rehabilitation with them.

Complex drug monitoring – This service is offered to patients on complex drugs for arthritis.

Ultrasound – the Practice offers a scanning service. Access is arranged through your GP for certain conditions.

The Practice offers full antenatal care. We work closely with our Midwife and Health Visitors to care for you from before pregnancy to beyond delivery. The midwife will provide details of all care and services at the booking appointment.

We would ask you to come to the surgery whenever possible to take advantage of the facilities and medicines on the premises, and so that the doctor remains available for all patients. If you feel you are too poorly, or disabled, and cannot get to the surgery, please contact the surgery before 11.00 a.m. if possible

You may collect your medication from the Practice dispensary. For those without transport, we have an arrangement with several village post offices for medicine to be delivered from the surgery for collection. The dispensary at Chieveley is open from 8.00am to 6.30pm each weekday. The Compton dispensary is open from 8.30am to 12 noon each weekday. If you anticipate any problems in collecting prescriptions, please discuss with a Dispenser.

If you require continuous medication, the doctor may authorise the dispenser to provide medicine in monthly batches. Each batch will be accompanied by a computer slip giving the name of the drug, and the number of times you may order the medicine before seeing the doctor again. Use this slip to order your next batch, giving us two working days’ notice to process the prescription. At busy times (Bank Holidays, Christmas) it may take three days to process repeat medication. For safety reasons, we regret we cannot take telephone requests for repeat prescriptions, but you may fax them to us on 01635 247261 or sign up to order on line; an application form is available from the dispensary. In accordance with government guidelines, we do not issue more than one month’s supply at any one time.

If you have seen a consultant privately, they will sometimes have issued a private prescription. Please understand that whilst your GP may be willing to change this for an NHS one, he/she is under no obligation and may feel professionally unable to do so.